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Heading into the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics, skiers and snowboarders were already adjusting to a ban on fluorinated waxes long prized for making their equipment faster. This week, the Winter Games saw their first enforcement of that rule, which is aimed at protecting public health and the environment.

South Korean cross-country skiers Han Dasom and Lee Eui-jin were disqualified from the women’s sprint event on Tuesday. That came one day after Japanese snowboarder Shiba Masaki was disqualified from the men’s parallel giant slalom. In all three cases, routine testing found banned compounds on their equipment.

For decades, elite snow sports athletes have relied on waxes with fluorocarbons that are exceptional at repelling water and dirt. Former U.S. cross-country racer Nathan Schultz told Grist the so-called “fluoro” waxes provide a “really ridiculous speed advantage,” especially in warmer conditions like those experienced at these Games.

But these waxes also contained PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. This class of 15,000 so-called “forever chemicals” are notorious for never breaking down. Studies have linked exposure to PFAS to thyroid disease, developmental problems, and cancer, and research has found elevated levels in ski technicians who regularly handled the waxes. PFAS have also been detected in soil and water near ski venues, including wells drawing from aquifers in Park City, Utah, suggesting broader environmental contamination.

Amid growing concern over the environmental impacts and the risks to skiers, their technicians, and others, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, or FIS, called for a ban in 2019. The prohibition took effect in 2023, and applies to all events governed by the federation, including nordic, alpine and freestyle skiing, ski jumping, and snowboarding.

Officials test multiple points on each competitor’s equipment, using a technique known as Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to detect fluoros. If a given spot on a ski or snowboard turns green, it passes. A red result indicates the presence of the banned substance. Three or more red spots leads to disqualification.

Representatives for the Japan team did respond to comment. A spokesperson for the Korea Ski Association initially told the South Korean news agency Newsis that the organization was “perplexed” by the results. “They tested negative in all previous international competitions with no prior issues,” they said. “We will consult experts from wax and ski manufacturers to investigate whether the issue lies with the wax or skis.” 

In an emailed statement, the Korean Olympic Committee told Grist that fluoride was detected in what it believed to be fluoride-free waxes. “The Ski Association has purchased fluoride-free wax products, so it will protest,” wrote the spokesperson. The team will also replace the wax and check the skis again after cleaning to “prevent recurrence.”

It is unclear if a protest was ever officially filed or what the outcome was. The Korean team declined to elaborate and FIS did not immediately respond to Grist’s questions. But unlike some infractions, like those related to doping, discipline for unintentional fluoro use generally applies only to the event in question. The Korean athletes competed again Thursday in the 10-km freestyle event, finishing 73rd and 80th. 

This time the results stood.

toolTips('.classtoolTips12','An acronym for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, PFAS are a class of chemicals used in everyday items like nonstick cookware, cosmetics, and food packaging that have proven to be dangerous to human health. Also called “forever chemicals” for their inability to break down over time, PFAS can be found lingering nearly everywhere — in water, soil, air, and the blood of people and animals.
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This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The Olympics just saw its first ‘forever chemical’ disqualifications on Feb 12, 2026.

Some deals take longer than others. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, a gas-fired power plant in Illinois secured $875 million in debt financing just three months after appointing bankers and investors to arrange the loan. In November 2023, an innovative lithium mine in Germany took eight times as long to raise a comparable debt package, despite booming demand for critical minerals and a marquee investor roster.

The difference wasn’t project quality. It was risk perception and the complexity of financing new business models and critical infrastructure.

Markets know how to fund what they’ve seen before: pipelines, data centers, solar farms. But for emerging, low-carbon technologies, such as thermal batteries and sustainable aviation fuel, even shovel-ready projects can stall in years of finance negotiations. Bankers must align dozens of stakeholders (investors, customers, suppliers, insurers, technology providers, construction firms, accountants, regulators, etc.) around key terms and risk-sharing structures before the project developer runs out of money.

These delays make projects that deploy emerging technologies expensive, risky, and often unviable. This is dampening enthusiasm for energy transition investment opportunities at a time when it must be rapidly expanding.

RMI’s Deal Lab breaks this cycle.

By encouraging earlier engagement in the deal cycle from key transaction participants, RMI’s Deal Lab helps shape projects, improve bankability, and accelerate financing readiness. In our Role of Banks report, we outlined the need for a recalibration of expectations on banks’ role in the energy transition, oriented around getting transactions done by playing to the strengths of different actors across the financial ecosystem. RMI’s Deal Lab sets both the new expectation and provides the means to implement climate leadership. It invites financial institutions to demonstrate commitment through the giving of time, capacity, and capital to get lighthouse transactions over the finish line.

RMI calls this new effort “Deal Lab” not to evoke experimentation, but to highlight the often-overlooked role of financial learning in commercializing new technologies. This corrects a key flaw in target-setting to date: the separation of climate ambition from the core services and smart investing strategies that banks provide.

Vulcan Energy Resource’s (Vulcan) lighthouse lithium deal presented a novel underwriting challenge to investors because it featured several innovative elements. On the technical side, the project combined on-site geothermal heat and power generation with lithium refining. Financial innovations included “preferential supplier status” to attract specific equity co-investors.

Nearly two years after formally appointing BNP Paribas as financial advisor, it secured over €1.2 billion in debt commitments, signaling investor confidence once the risks were understood and appropriately shared.

In Vulcan’s case, BNP showed what bank leadership looks like: being in the room when market-making happens. The investors who show up early are the ones who will learn first, and the ones the market will trust as these opportunities scale. That’s the role (and opportunity) of banks and finance.

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For the investment banks (like BNP in the example above) that usually do much of the stakeholder coordination behind the scenes, time is money. Every minute bankers spend learning the ins-and-outs of a new technology or market is a minute not spent on a simpler deal that could be generating structuring fees sooner.

Still, some institutions see these early, complex transactions as where long-term value begins.

“Lighthouse transactions require sustained commitment from institutions willing to engage early, stay close to the deal, share learnings, and build new norms among counterparties,” said Nabil Bennouna, Principal on RMI’s Climate Finance team. “RMI’s Deal Lab helps ease the burden on any individual dealmaker as they navigate the complexity of financing the scale-up of new technologies.”

RMI will accelerate bankers’ and investors’ learning process by applying lessons from years of successful and continued first-of-a-kind (FOAK) project advisory work. Doing so will lower transaction costs by reducing the time spent on diligence and negotiations. From August 2022 to December 2024, RMI’s 100-person Industries program advised 18 large projects (50 percent reached final investment decision compared with 20 percent globally) and conducted three critical functions that banks normally play when there is sufficient commercial incentive to do so:

1. Clarifying upside opportunities and downside risk management through consensus-driven financial modeling and technoeconomic due diligence.
2. Developing new deal terms to manage nascent market risks and align a deal’s risk-return profiles with investors’ appetites.
3. Kickstarting norms and translating key metrics between developers and the varied types of investors in complex capital stacks and across new commercial agreements.

RMI’s dedicated support helped cut through the noise of competing priorities to ensure that attention and resources stayed focused on these lighthouse projects. RMI’s Deal Lab will play three roles until the market can take over:

1. Upskill developers and professionalize investor relations: Help developers move from expensive equity to cheaper commercial debt by translating their project value propositions into terms that align with later-stage investors’ norms and expectations.
2. Innovate deal structures: Create new templates to align different capital providers’ (equity, credit, insurance) risk-return profiles through multilateral syndicate working sessions that simulate real deal conditions.
3. Build an investment engine: Make a stronger case for targeted concessional capital interventions in high impact projects and crowd-in private capital by participating in the development of new investment vehicles.

When learnings from Deal Lab are made public, other advisors and investors can replicate the lighthouse transactions at speed and scale. RMI will share learnings from these deal labs via:

1. Investor roadshows that identify and brief potential project funders
2. Publicly accessible data rooms that give funders information (e.g., technology performance assumptions, project finance models, energy transition scenarios, comparable legal contracts, etc.) to efficiently diligence similar deals

Roadshows will widen the project’s prospective pool of funders while public data rooms will deepen it. Together, they should help shorten financing timelines because capital markets have already been prepared to diligence and fund innovative deals in that sector. This should mitigate some first-mover risk that can prevent pioneering dealmakers from entering the market.

From 2020 to 2025, the sustainable finance community mainly focused on standards and disclosures. The next five years must see a shift towards transaction-level support, and ultimately, increased deal flow.

The wind and solar industries took around 20 years (and many expensive iterations) to attract cheap, plentiful capital. We don’t have time for this maturation to happen organically in other critical sectors. Lighthouses shine a pathway for others, but someone must first build the lighthouse. RMI’s Deal Lab will enable lighthouse transactions by aligning key counterparties around technical assumptions, contract design, risk management mechanisms, and monetizing new sources of value much earlier and faster than would happen without constructive intervention.

If you are a financial institution, funder, law firm, insurer or project developer interested in learning more or partnering, reach out to RMI’s Deal Lab lead Nabil Bennouna at nbennouna@rmi.org.

 

The post How We’re Building Lighthouses for the Financial Sector appeared first on RMI.

The move eliminates ‘endangerment finding’, the scientific basis for limiting greenhouse gas emissions and public health safeguards  

WASHINGTON, D.C. — President Trump and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced today the shattering of the landmark “endangerment finding,” a cornerstone of scientific research that has guided U.S. climate action for nearly two decades. The EPA’s unconscionable action to revoke the 17-year-old finding dismantles the legal and scientific foundation that allows the U.S. government to regulate the emissions from greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere. This decision will undermine pollution standards from sources, including vehicles and dirty power plants that were built on that finding, and put Americans’ health and safety at risk. 

This unprecedented move threatens pollution standards that have protected Americans from harmful emissions and decades of progress in addressing climate change. Trump’s EPA continues its aggressive approach to rolling back pollution regulations. This week, it is the “endangerment finding”; next week, additional rollbacks are expected for the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards, coal ash ponds, and more in the coming weeks and months. Trump and his allies may continue to dismiss climate change as a hoax,  but ignoring the everyday impacts of a warming planet will make Americans more vulnerable to higher costs, extreme weather events, and adverse health impacts. 

Quentin Scott, Federal Policy Director for Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), released the following statement:

“As expected, the Trump Administration continues to be in the pockets of big polluters and ignores the impacts of climate change on Americans’ lives. The ‘endangerment finding’ is rooted in credible scientific evidence and well-established legal underpinnings. Relying on junk science to shatter the ‘endangerment finding’ will cost Americans in dirtier air, more preventable disease and deaths, and a higher cost of living to mitigate downstream impacts of pollution. Once again, Trump fails to deliver for the American people while enriching himself and his allies. Congress must step in and use the Congressional Review Act to reverse this unconscionable decision.”

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Chesapeake Climate Action Network is the first grassroots organization dedicated exclusively to raising awareness about the impacts and solutions associated with global warming in the Chesapeake Bay region. Founded in 2002, CCAN has been at the center of the fight for clean energy and wise climate policy in Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC and beyond.

The post Trump’s EPA Guts Landmark Climate Foundation, Putting Public Health at Risk appeared first on Chesapeake Climate Action Network.

Advice has been reversed on whether expansion of the Wressle oil site in North Lincolnshire needs a detailed study of the environmental impacts.

Proposed expansion at the Wressle oil site near Scunthorpe. Source: planning application

North Lincolnshire planners had been advised twice that the proposal did not require an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

But the author of the advice, an official at Surrey County Council, has now changed her mind.

The U-turn by Dr Jessica Salder, follows a challenge to her advice from the local campaign group, Fossil Fuel Free Lincolnshire.

Now Dr Salder has advised the council:

“I recommend amending your position on the proposal’s EIA status.”

She said:

“Classing the scheme as ‘EIA development’ will enable your Authority to consider all pertinent environmental information, including that offered by statutory and other consultees, when determining the application.”

Dr Salder also referred to the government’s proposed changes to the National Planning Policy Framework.

Fossil Fuel Free Lincolnshire has greeted the U-turn:

“It is welcome — if overdue — that the Council’s advisor, Dr Jessica Salder, of Surrey Council, has revised her earlier advice and now agrees with us that this development should be screened in for an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).  

Delays and landmark Supreme Court ruling

The proposals to expand the Wressle oil site date back to October 2023.

At the time, Wressle had recently begun formally extracting oil and was the UK’s second largest onshore producing field, after Wytch Farm in Dorset.

In March 2024, the Wressle operator, Egdon Resources, submitted a planning application to drill and carry out lower-volume fracking on two new wells targeting both oil and gas.

The company also sought permission for:

• long-term oil production
• one-third increase to the site footprint
• new processing equipment
• underground gas pipeline

But the planning process became delayed by the successful Supreme Court challenge over onshore oil EIAs, brought by the campaigner, Sarah Finch. The court ruled in June 2024 that decisionmakers must consider the impact of carbon emissions from combustion of UK onshore oil production.

In September 2024, planners at North Lincolnshire Council, using delegated powers, granted planning permission for the Wressle expansion. Their decision, just three months after the Supreme Court ruling, did not consider the likely carbon emissions from combustion of Wressle oil because there was no EIA.

Two months later, in November 2024, the planning permission was quashed following the threat of a legal challenge by environmental campaigner, Sandie Stratford. North Lincolnshire Council did not contest the case.

In March 2025, Dr Salder first advised North Lincolnshire that an EIA was not needed.

The planners took her advice and in May 2025, they ruled again that the Wressle proposal would not need an EIA, even though they acknowledged the scheme would contribute to climate change.

In June 2025, campaigners restarted a legal challenge against the council. They argued in a pre-action legal letter that the impact of greenhouse gas emissions from an expanded site would be significant and should not be dismissed.

Dr Salder, a key witness for the losing side in the Supreme Court case, issued her second advice to North Lincolnshire Council on 20 November 2025. She said then:

“it is unlikely that EIA should be required in this case”.

She said the proposal did not meet the EIA criteria. Along with other committed and projected developments, Wressle would not prevent the achievement of the UK’s target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, she said.

Fossil Fuel Free Lincolnshire challenged Dr Salder’s advice on 8 December 2025. It said the council’s previous EIA decision was unlawful and should be withdrawn.

The group described Egdon’s greenhouse gas assessment for Wressle as “flawed and simplistic”. The assessment failed to consider the worst-case scenario or the cumulative effects of Wressle along with other committed oil and gas production, the group said.

The group also said Egdon had failed to take account of supplementary guidance from the government.

The greenhouse gas effects from Wressle could be significant and an EIA would enable decisionmakers to consider them in detail, the group added.

Fossil Fuel Free Lincolnshire said today:

“Even before the Finch ruling in June 2024, the serious climate harm caused by fossil fuel developments was undeniable.  

“Since that judgement, there is simply no excuse for planning authorities to ignore it – particularly in this case where we have repeatedly raised these concerns with the Council over the past year or more.

“Hopefully, North Lincolnshire Council will now act accordingly by reversing its flawed negative Screening Opinion and ensuring that the greenhouse gas emissions from this development are properly assessed and subjected to full public scrutiny.”

DrillOrDrop asked North Lincolnshire Council whether it had changed its EIA ruling on the Wressle expansion following Dr Salder’s latest advice. The council has not responded.

Key documents 250317 Jessica Salder to NLCDownload 251120 Jessica Salder to NLCDownload 251208 Fossil Fuel Free Lincolnshire to NLCDownload 260107 Jessica Salder to NLCDownload

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Feb. 12, 2026

Bold’s Jane Kleeb Delivers Testimony in Support of LB 1111 to Regulate Data Centers in Nebraska

Lincoln – On the crucial issue of data centers, and their potential impact on our water and utility bills, Bold founder Jane Kleeb will appear at the Capitol on Thursday to testify and encourage Nebraskans to support LB 1111, a bill to regulate data centers built in Nebraska that introduced by Senator Machaela Cavanaugh, with Senators Terrell McKinney and Ashlei Spivey signed on as co-sponsors.

The bill would put in place regulations on data centers that require them to pay the full cost of providing new electricity services, including any necessary new infrastructure, so that cost is not passed on to individual ratepayer customers. LB 1111 would also require that power suppliers make available to the public the name of the project, developers and owners, location of any proposed data center, its proposed size and electricity demand, as well as details on the customer types and term lengths of contracts with proposed data center customers. The bill also requests that the projects have a decommissioning plan and a Community Benefits Agreement.

Bold Nebraska founder Jane Kleeb will deliver public testimony in support of LB 1111 at today’s hearing, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Room 1023 at the Nebraska State Capitol. Bold is also encouraging Nebraskans to submit comments and contact Senators to support LB 1111.

Testimony of Jane Kleeb in support of LB 1111

Chair Brandt and Members of the Natural Resources Committee:

My name is Jane Kleeb. I am the Founder and Executive Director of Bold and I live in Hastings. I testify today in support of LB 1111.

Right from the beginning, I want to be clear that Bold is not advocating that data centers can not be built. First and foremost, we do not believe any corporation should have access to the use of eminent domain for their private gain.

That holds true for data centers.

Bold is advocating for guardrails on an industry that is growing fast, using resources, has very little transparency and is leaving very little money behind for those that live near these massive projects let alone our counties and the state.

We can lead the nation in providing a clear path, which I believe LB 1111 does, on basic steps a data center must take including community benefit agreements and dividends like Bold did with the recent Tallgrass project here in Nebraska or the Flikertail project in North Dakota.

Bold is deeply concerned about the electricity sales and rate data which shows skyrocketing demand for electricity by commercial customers, including data centers. Over the past three years, commercial electricity sales have increased by an astonishing 34%, for the first time exceeding both residential and industrial sales. During this same period, electricity rates for commercial customers decreased by five percent while rates for residential customers increased by seven percent. That’s a twelve percent spread.

Since 1990, when the federal government began collecting this data, there has never been as large an increase in demand in any sector, and there has never been as large a divergence between residential and commercial electricity rates. These circumstances are unprecedented.

Something big is happening. And that something big is data centers.

While the state’s public utilities might have an explanation for jacking up residential rates while lowering commercial rates, it seems likely that these remarkable changes are the result of data center construction and operation. My understanding is that there are now approximately 40 data centers operating, under construction, or planned in Nebraska, including at least three hyperscale centers in the Omaha area. We have heard rumors that this number is closer to 80.

Why are data centers building in Nebraska? One factor is our low electricity prices. The federal data shows that Nebraska’s commercial electricity rates are significantly lower than all of its neighboring states.

(Source: U.S. Energy Information Agency)

Operating in Nebraska substantially reduces data center electricity bills. The only state that comes close to our commercial rates is Wyoming, and it, too, has experienced a major spike in commercial sector electricity demand.

We enjoy low rates in part because utilities in Nebraska are 100 percent publicly owned, meaning our rates don’t include profit and return on investment for billionaires. Our state’s leaders wisely decided that utilities should be publicly owned.

If current trends continue, this legacy of affordable public power could be squandered to serve the interests of data centers. They will demand construction of expensive new generation and transmission infrastructure and seek to load the cost of these facilities onto the backs of hardworking Nebraskans. Low-cost electricity could end.

LB 1111 would require that data centers pay the full freight for their energy costs and prevent the transfer of these costs to other types of ratepayers. That’s only fair. LB 1111 also facilitates self-generation by data centers, including via renewable energy, as this will help ensure that data centers bear the costs if (or when) their industry booms and busts. It also requires decommissioning plans, just as are required for renewable energy facilities, so local communities are not left with disintegrating eyesores, and it requires that data centers negotiate community benefit agreements that help mitigate local impacts.

Nebraskans are deeply concerned about the potential impacts of data centers on electricity costs, water, and local communities. They distrust the billionaire class and politicians who allow our tax dollars and our land to be used by them.

I ask the Committee to protect Nebraskans by incorporating the policies contained in LB 1111 into state law.

Thank you for your time and attention.

SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION

A group of House members, all representing districts served by powerful water agencies, has urged the Newsom administration to roll back a key environmental rule governing operations in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. The rule includes critical limits intended to protect the ecological health of the state’s largest and most fragile estuary.

Both the Newsom and Trump administrations have sought to increase water exports this year, easing environmental protections in order to pave the way for large, expensive water infrastructure projects. Environmental, Tribal and fishing organizations have sharply opposed those efforts, warning they would further imperil endangered species such as Chinook salmon and Delta smelt.

Restore the Delta and our partners are now calling on the state to reject proposals to increase pumping and water exports. Weakening or reversing the 25-year-old water quality rule would cause irreversible harm to already threatened habitats, ecosystems, and water supplies that Delta fish and communities depend on.   

“Regulations for water quality are essential to protect communities and ecosystems that live throughout the Bay-Delta. Weakening salinity requirements as requested by these legislators will have a direct and negative impact on Tribes, communities, Delta farms, and the Delta economy. Water quality regulations are meant to protect all beneficial uses and the public trust, not the greed of industry and wealthy agricultural interests,” said Morgen Snyder, Director of Policy and Programs at Restore the Delta.

Read the article from E&E News by Politico here.

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These Olympics are first to feature a ban on ‘forever chemicals’ in ski and snowboard wax Monica Amarelo February 12, 2026

For decades, elite skiers and snowboarders chased medals with the help of high-performance wax made with the toxic “forever chemicals” known as PFAS. 

Winter sports enthusiasts usually slicked fluorinated, or “fluoro,” wax on the bottom of their equipment. The wax gave athletes a powerful advantage, especially in wet snow, and delivered what some described as “ridiculous” speed, not to mention potential harm to people and the environment. 

Fluorine indicates the likely presence of PFAS. 

But that era is over.

For the first time in Olympic history, the games will be completely free of toxic, fluorinated ski waxes. The shift follows a total ban by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, which took effect during the 2023-2024 season. 

The 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games will serve as the ban’s highest-profile test yet. 

These Olympics mark a turning point for athlete safety, environmental protection and the global effort to phase out toxic forever chemicals. 

How the ban works

In 2019, the federation announced plans to ban fluorinated waxes. But enforcement required reliable ways to detect fluorine on race skis, a process that took several seasons to perfect.

In 2023, the International Biathlon Union also banned ski preparation products containing fluoro chemicals. Top-tier events, including the World Cup and World Championships, began to conduct mandatory PFAS tests. Random tests were also introduced at lower-level competitions to ensure the rule applied across the sport, not just on its biggest stages.

Officials are enforcing the rule at these Olympics, ensuring they take place on a level, fluorine-free playing field. Every pair of skis competing at the Olympics will be tested for the presence of fluorine. Athletes can be disqualified if random checks for fluorinated compounds detect them.

In fact, two Olympic skiers, Han Dasom and Lee Eui-jin of South Korea, were banned from these games after tests found PFAS on their skis. 

Why were PFAS used in ski wax?

At the highest levels of competition, even just a few fractions of a second can mean the difference between earning the gold and going home empty-handed. That’s why, since the 1980s, elite skiers and snowboarders have turned to these types of waxes.

PFAS repel water and reduce friction, allowing skis and snowboards to glide more quickly, particularly in wet snow and slush. In events where glide can determine who reaches the podium, that water-shedding power translated into a measurable competitive advantage.

Over time, manufacturers developed more concentrated forms of PFAS to boost the speed advantage. But the performance jump came at a steep cost.

Application of fluoro wax requires heat, and technicians often worked in dedicated enclosed cabins where fumes could build up. 

Those technicians, many of whom worked daily with the products, faced some of the highest exposures, inhaling vaporized PFAS season after season of working with the contaminated wax. As evidence mounted about the chemicals’ health and environmental harms, the competitive edge they provided became harder to justify. These concerns paved the way for the ban.

Environmental contamination from ski wax 

The environmental impact is also significant. With use, wax continuously wears off equipment, shedding tiny particles into the snow. Studies measuring PFAS in melted snow, nearby soil and aquifers and surface water after ski competitions have found strikingly high concentrations of these toxic “forever chemicals.”

PFAS are known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment or in our bodies. But contamination doesn’t stay on the mountain. PFAS from decades of fluorinated wax use can persist in alpine ecosystems, leaching into waterways and moving through food chains, affecting wildlife and downstream communities for decades.

The health risks of PFAS exposure

As the science became clearer, so did the stakes. Was a marginal gain in speed worth exposing elite athletes, technicians and communities to chemicals that can cause long-term health issues?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has detected PFAS in the blood of 99% of Americans, including newborn babies.

Very low doses of PFAS have been linked to suppression of the immune system. Studies show exposure to PFAS can also increase the risk of cancer, harm fetal development and reduce vaccine effectiveness, among other serious health concerns.

What this means for consumers

Consumers shouldn’t have to bear the burden of protecting themselves from toxic chemicals. That is the responsibility of federal regulators. But until laws catch up with the science, informed choices protect both your personal health and the winter environment you love.

Ski wax is just one item on a long list of products historically treated with these chemicals. Many states, like Maine and Minnesota, are banning PFAS in consumer products, but the chemicals can still be found in certain foods and in soil, as well as some sources of drinking water, nonstick cookware, firefighting foam, personal care products, textiles and many others.

In April 2024, EWG President Ken Cook spoke with Peter Arlein, a former ski-shop wax technician who decided to take matters into his own hands. He founded the Colorado-based company mountainFLOW, which produces ski wax and bicycle lubricants without PFAS. You can listen to that episode here.

If you ski or snowboard recreationally, you can enjoy the snow without the toxic footprint. PFAS-free wax is now widely available and highly effective.

• Ask before you wax. If you get your equipment professionally serviced, ask your local shop what type of wax they use. Many shops have already pivoted to PFAS-free alternatives, and some manufacturers have stopped producing fluorinated wax entirely.
• Check the label. If you apply wax yourself, look for products labeled PFAS-free or fluoro-free. Companies like Colorado-based mountainFLOW have pioneered high-performance wax made without toxic chemicals.
• Safety first. When applying any wax at home, work in a well-ventilated area. Even with safer PFAS-free alternatives, it is a good practice to wear a mask during the heating and scraping process to avoid inhaling fine particles.

Areas of Focus Toxic Chemicals PFAS Chemicals Here’s why it’s relevant beyond the slopes Authors Monica Amarelo February 12, 2026

In the 1970s across the northeastern US, Evening Grosbeaks were daily visitors to backyard feeders each winter. And then, seemingly all at once, they were gone.Nowadays many birders count themselves...

Open access notables

Shifting baselines alter trends and emergence of climate extremes across Africa, Taguela & Akinsanola, Atmospheric Research

World Meteorological Organization baselines used to identify climate extremes are routinely updated to reflect recent climate conditions. Yet the implications of these updates for the characterization, trends, and detectability of climate extremes remain poorly understood, particularly in data-sparse and highly vulnerable regions such as Africa. Here, we quantify how updating the reference period from 1981–2010 to 1991–2020 systematically alters the characterization of temperature and precipitation extremes across the continent. Using multiple observational and reanalysis datasets (BEST, ERA5, MERRA-2, CHIRPS), we assess the sensitivity of percentile-based thresholds, long-term trends, and the Time of Emergence (ToE) to changes in the reference period. ToE is employed here as a diagnostic of detectability rather than a definitive marker of anthropogenic signal onset. Our results show that the updated baseline leads to higher temperature thresholds, resulting in a reduced frequency and slower trends for warm extremes (TX90p, TN90p), and a concurrent increase in cold extremes (TX10p, TN10p). Precipitation extremes exhibit more heterogeneous and dataset-dependent responses: trends in extreme precipitation totals (R95pTOT, R99pTOT) generally weaken, whereas intensity-based metrics (R95pINT, R99pINT) often strengthen, particularly in MERRA-2. Moreover, the choice of baseline strongly influences the estimated ToE. Warm extremes emerge 2–8 years later under the newer baseline, while cold extremes emerge earlier (by up to 15 years) due to enhanced signal-to-noise ratios. For precipitation, ToE responses vary widely across datasets and regions. In CHIRPS, the ToE of intense rainfall events is delayed, whereas in MERRA-2 it advances by over 2 decades in some regions. These results indicate that ToE estimates derived from recent decades are highly sensitive to baseline selection. By explicitly isolating the effect of baseline choice, this study provides a critical framework for interpreting extremes, reconciling dataset discrepancies, and improving the robustness of climate monitoring and risk communication across Africa.

[The same innocently mindless yet deceptive baseline updates pertain in other domains.]

Enhanced weather persistence due to amplified Arctic warming, Graversen et al., Communications Earth & Environment

Changing weather is an aspect of global warming potentially constituting a major challenge for humanity in the coming decades. Some climate models indicate that, due to global warming, future weather will become more persistent, with surface-air temperature anomalies lasting longer. However, to date, an observed change in weather persistence has not been robustly confirmed. Here we show that weather persistence in terms of temperature anomalies, across all weather types and seasons, has increased during recent decades in the Northern Hemisphere mid-latitudes. This persistence increase is linked to Arctic temperature amplification – the Arctic warming faster than the global average – and hence global warming. Persistent weather may lead to extreme weather, and for many plants such as crops, weather persistence can be devastating, as these plants often depend on weather variations. Hence, our results call for further investigation of weather-persistence impact on extreme weather, biodiversity, and the global food supply.

Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Feng et al., Biogeosciences

The boreal forest has experienced the fastest warming of any forested biome in recent decades. While vegetation–climate models predict a northward migration of boreal tree cover, the long-term studies required to test the hypothesis have been confined to regional analyses, general indices of vegetation productivity, and data calibrated to other ecoregions. Here we report a comprehensive test of the magnitude, direction, and significance of changes in the distribution of the boreal forest based on the longest and highest-resolution time-series of calibrated satellite maps of tree cover to date. From 1985 to 2020, boreal tree cover expanded by 0.844 million km2, a 12 % relative increase since 1985, and shifted northward by 0.29° mean and 0.43° median latitude. Gains were concentrated between 64–68° N and exceeded losses at southern margins, despite stable disturbance rates across most latitudes. Forest age distributions reveal that young stands (up to 36 years) now comprise 15.4 % of forest area and hold 1.1–5.9 Pg of aboveground biomass carbon, with the potential to sequester an additional 2.3–3.8 Pg C if allowed to mature. These findings confirm the northward advance of the boreal forest and implicate the future importance of the region's greening to the global carbon budget.

Securing the past for the future – why climate proxy archives should be protected, Bebchuk & Büntgen, Boreas

Glaciers, corals, speleothems, peatlands, trees and other natural proxy archives are essential for global climate change research, but their scarcity and fragility are not equally recognised. Here, we introduce a rapidly disappearing source of palaeoclimatic, environmental and archaeological evidence from some 5000 years ago in the Fenland of eastern England to argue for the protection of natural proxy archives. We describe the region's exceptional, yet neglected subfossil wood sources, discuss its multifaceted value for scholarship and society, and outline a prototype for sustainable proxy preservation. Finally, we emphasise the urgency and complexity of conservation strategies that must balance academic, public and economic interests across different spatiotemporal scales.

From this week's government/NGO section:

Poll Shows GOP Voters Support Solar Energy, American-Made Solar, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, First Solar

A national poll by the authors found widespread support for solar energy among Republicans, Republican-leaning Independents, and voters who supported President Donald J. Trump. The poll of 800 GOP+ voters found that they are in favor of the use of utility-scale solar by a more than 20-point margin, with 51% in favor; if the panels used for solar energy are American made with no ties to China, support for solar energy soars higher. Those in favor jump to 70%, while only 19% are opposed; 68% agree that the United States needs all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar, to be built for lowering electricity costs, compared to 22% who disagreed; 79% agree that the government should allow all forms of electricity generation, including utility-scale solar, to compete on their own merits and without political interference, versus 11% who disagreed; a clear majority (52%) of GOP+ voters are more likely to support a Congressional candidate if they support an all-of-the-above energy agenda, including the use of solar; and 51% are more likely to vote for a candidate who supported an American company building a solar panel manufacturing plant in the US.

Hot stuff: geothermal energy in Europe, Tatiana Mindeková and Gianluca Geneletti, Ember

Advances in drilling and reservoir engineering are unlocking geothermal electricity across much wider parts of Europe, at a time when the power system needs firm, low-carbon supply and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Once limited to a few favorable locations, geothermal is now positioned to scale. Around 43 GW of enhanced geothermal capacity in the European Union could be developed at costs below 100 €/MWh today, comparable to coal and gas electricity. The largest potential is concentrated in Hungary, followed by Poland, Germany and France. While representing only a fraction of Europe’s total geothermal potential, the identified EU-level deployment could deliver around 301 TWh of electricity per year, reflecting geothermal’s high capacity factor. This is equivalent to about 42% of coal- and gas-fired generation in the EU in 2025. 178 articles in 67 journals by 1224 contributing authors

Physical science of climate change, effects

Amplifying Variability of the Southern Annular Mode in the Past and Future, Ma et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119214

An Analytical Model of the Lifecycle of Tropical Anvil Cloud Radiative Effects, Lutsko et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.175492939.96377329/v1

Causes and consequences of Arctic amplification elucidated by coordinated multimodel experiments, Screen et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03052-z

Enhanced Adiabatic Heating Drives Faster Warming of Early Summer Hot Extremes in North China, Fang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl120396

Evolution of Temperature Extremes During the Holocene: From the Modeling Perspective, Dou & Shi, Open Access pdf 10.22541/au.175329652.23512823/v1

Recent Tropical Cyclone Outer Size Increases in the Western North Atlantic, Balaguru et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007162

What Factors Explain the Current Arctic Albedo and Its Future Change?, Kim & Taylor, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd044070

Observations of climate change, effects

A Climatology of Heatwaves Over Greece for the Period 1960–2022, Ioannidis et al., International Journal of Climatology Open Access pdf 10.1002/joc.70204

Amplifying Variability of the Southern Annular Mode in the Past and Future, Ma et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119214

Climate change and fires drive mire development in central Siberian permafrost areas over the past century, Babeshko et al., The Holocene 10.1177/09596836251407585

Climate change has increased global evaporative demand except in South Asia, Karimzadeh et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02959-x

Enhanced weather persistence due to amplified Arctic warming, Graversen et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03050-1

Increased contributions of climate-driven wildfires to nitrogen deposition in the United States, Campbell et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6673143/v1

Long-term spatiotemporal analysis of variation in soil moisture over Iran, Darand & Tashan, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2026.106727

Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Feng et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-1089-2026

Record-Breaking Summertime Terrestrial and Marine Heat Waves in Southeast Asia Driven by Internal Variability during 2020–22, Wang et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0202.1

Resolving the changing pace of Arctic rivers, Geyman & Lamb, Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02512-w

Shifting cyclone travel speed and its impact on global mangrove ecosystems, Mo et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adx6799

Stratopause trends observed by satellite limb instruments, Dubé et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-26-2161-2026

Strongly Heterogeneous Surface-Water Warming Trends in High Mountain Asia, Smith & Bookhagen, Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl119418

“Vulnerabilities and compound risks of escalating climate disasters in the Brazilian Amazon”, Pinho et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-66603-0

Instrumentation & observational methods of climate change, effects

A database of databases for Common Era paleoclimate applications, Evans et al., Earth System Science Data Open Access 10.5194/essd-18-1185-2026

Exploring Clear-Sky Longwave Radiative Closure in the Arctic: A Downwelling Case Study, Mosselmans et al., Atmospheric Science Letters Open Access 10.1002/asl.70000

Learning From Natural Experiments to Accelerate Demographic Research on Climate-Related Threats to Human Populations, Fussell et al., WIREs Climate Change Open Access 10.1002/wcc.70031

Sea Surface Temperature and Directional Wave Spectra During the 2023 Marine Heatwave in the North Atlantic, Peláez-Zapata et al., Scientific Data Open Access 10.1038/s41597-025-06268-y

Securing the past for the future – why climate proxy archives should be protected, Bebchuk & Büntgen, Boreas Open Access pdf 10.1111/bor.70039

Shifting baselines alter trends and emergence of climate extremes across Africa, Taguela & Akinsanola, Atmospheric Research Open Access 10.1016/j.atmosres.2026.108839

Time irreversibility as an indicator of approaching tipping points in Earth subsystems, Kooloth et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-03165-5

Where to place? Strategic siting of urban climate monitoring stations using Local Climate Zones and city-scale PALM modeling, Schneider et al., Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102782

Modeling, simulation & projection of climate change, effects

ENSO's Impacts on Southeastern Australia's Future Rainfall Risk, Huang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118673

Future Intensification of Compound Heatwaves and Socioeconomic Exposure in Africa, Bobde et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007022

Increased Streamflow Intermittence in Europe Due To Climate Change Projected by Combining Global Hydrological Modeling and Machine Learning, Abbasi et al., 10.22541/essoar.173557434.40176318/v1

Mesoscale Convective Systems over South America: Representation in Kilometer-Scale Met Office Unified Model Climate Simulations, Gilmour et al., Journal of Climate Open Access 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0754.1

More Frequent and Intense Tropical Cyclone-Heat Wave Compound Extremes Over the Coastal Regions of China in a Warmer Climate, Wang et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 10.1029/2025jd044509

Multiple Fire Index Examination of Future Climate Change Affecting Wildfire Seasonality and Extremes in the Contiguous United States, Kessenich et al., Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology 10.1175/jamc-d-24-0230.1

Spatiotemporal prioritization of soil erosion risk using the RUSLE model and CMIP6 projections under future climate scenarios in a Mediterranean watershed, ?pek & Kahya, Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1760569

Advancement of climate & climate effects modeling, simulation & projection

Climate Models Tend to Underestimate Scaling of UK Mean Winter Precipitation With Temperature, Carruthers et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118201

High-resolution forecasting of soil thermal regimes using different deep learning frameworks under climate change, Saeidinia et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7642696/v1

Performance Evaluation of CMIP6 Models on the Arctic-Siberian Plain Teleconnection Affecting the East Asian Heat Waves, Kim et al., Weather and Climate Extremes Open Access 10.1016/j.wace.2026.100867

Runoff evaluation in an Earth System Land Model for permafrost regions in Alaska, Huang et al., Geoscientific Model Development Open Access 10.5194/gmd-19-1193-2026

Significance of Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies to Arctic sea ice variability revealed by deep learning, Li et al., npj Climate and Atmospheric Science Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41612-026-01347-2

Temperature variability projections remain uncertain after constraining them to best performing Large Ensembles of individual Climate Models, & , Open Access pmh:oai:www.research-collection.ethz.ch:20.500.11850/792982

The ACCESS-AM2 climate model underestimates aerosol concentration in the Southern Ocean; improving aerosol representation could be problematic for the global energy balance, Fiddes et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-25-16451-2025

The representation of climate impacts in the FRIDAv2.1 Integrated Assessment Model, Wells et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-2756

Understanding CMIP6 Multi-Model Ensemble Projected Pacific Warming Pattern Variability, McGregor et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access 10.1029/2025gl118815

Unveiling the dominant control of the systematic cooling bias in CMIP6 models: quantification and corrective strategies, Zhang et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access 10.5194/acp-26-2175-2026

What Factors Explain the Current Arctic Albedo and Its Future Change?, Kim & Taylor, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jd044070

Cryosphere & climate change

Circulation and ocean–ice shelf interaction beneath the Denman and Shackleton Ice Shelves, Rintoul et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.adx1024

Evaluating the effectiveness of artificial covering in reducing glacier melt, LIU et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2026.01.011

Glacier surging and surge-related hazards in a changing climate, et al., pmh:oai:durham-repository.worktribe.com:4929395

Melting glaciers as symbols of tourism paradoxes, Salim et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02544-2

Melting ice and transforming beliefs, Allison et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02551-3

Negligible global but substantial regional effect of vegetation greening on the 21st century permafrost, Ran et al., Advances in Climate Change Research Open Access 10.1016/j.accre.2025.12.012

Northward shift of boreal tree cover confirmed by satellite record, Feng et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-23-1089-2026

Recent and projected changes in rain-on-snow event characteristics across Svalbard, Vickers et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-6907-2025

Record-breaking Greenland ice sheet melt events under recent and future climate, Bonsoms et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69543-5

Spatially variable response of Antarctica’s ice sheets to orbital forcing during the Pliocene, Patterson et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01840-y

Stabilizing feedbacks allow for multiple states of the Greenland Ice Sheet in a fully coupled Earth System – Ice Sheet Model, Andernach et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-4736

The impact of 75?years of climate change on Mediterranean glacier mass balance, Wang et al., Global and Planetary Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105370

Sea level & climate change

Estimates of Future Sea Levels Under Sea-Level Rise: A Novel Hybrid Block Bootstrapping Approach and Australian Case Study, Hague et al., 10.22541/essoar.174835238.88076315/v3

Feedback-based sea level rise impact modelling for integrated assessment models with FRISIAv1.0, Ramme et al., Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1875

Observation-based quantification of physical processes that impact sea level, Groeskamp, Ocean Science Open Access 10.5194/os-22-501-2026

Paleoclimate & paleogeochemistry

An unpredictable body size response to the Permo-Triassic climate crisis, , Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.18380698

Ocean heat forced West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat after the Last Glacial Maximum, Mawbey et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-68949-5

Spatially variable response of Antarctica’s ice sheets to orbital forcing during the Pliocene, Patterson et al., Nature Geoscience 10.1038/s41561-025-01840-y

Biology & climate change, related geochemistry

Applying invasion biology frameworks to predict the impacts of range-expanding predators, Beshai et al., Ecology 10.1002/ecy.70315

Blue carbon ecosystems and coral reefs as coupled nature-based climate solutions, Fakhraee, Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-026-01768-0

Climate-driven reproductive decline in Southern right whales, Charlton et al., Scientific Reports Open Access 10.1038/s41598-026-36897-1

Conserving key coastal areas for mangrove expansion and eco-tourism secures ecosystem services under sea-level rise, Stamoulis et al., npj Ocean Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1038/s44183-025-00170-1

Contrasting drought responses in two grassland plant–microbe systems under climate change, Yang et al., Journal of Ecology Open Access 10.1111/1365-2745.70251

Coral reefs in the Mahafaly Seascape (SW Madagascar) as potential climate refugia following the 2024 mass bleaching event, Randrianarivo et al., PeerJ Open Access pdf 10.7717/peerj.20319

Critical snowpack thresholds and escalating risks for extreme decreases in vegetation productivity across Northern Hemisphere ecosystems, et al., Open Access pmh:oai:www.repository.cam.ac.uk:1810/394060

Ecological Niche Modeling Reveals Historical Population Dynamics and Future Climate Response of the Carnivorous Plant Nepenthes mirabilis in Southeast Asia, Huang et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72707

Future diversity and lifespan of metazoans under global warming and oxygen depletion, Kaiho, Open Access pdf 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1853

Genomics of rafting crustaceans reveals adaptation to climate change in tropical oceans,Liu et al., Nature Communications , Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.29614727

Heat wave impacts on tree growth and recovery in temperate forests depend on leaf phenology, Bonfanti et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology Open Access 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111020

Impact of Climate Change on the Multiple Facets of Forest Bird Diversity in a Biodiversity Hotspot Within the Atlantic Forest, Mota et al., Diversity and Distributions, Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.c.7614515.v1

Impacts of Climate Change on the Distribution of Suitable Habitat for Invasive Coreopsis Species in China, Jia et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.73073

Mitigating and adapting to climate change: the role of nature-based solutions in sustaining vegetation health in the Isiukhu River Basin, Tela et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1721489

Mountains magnify mechanisms in climate change biology, de la Fuente et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02549-x

Oaks and Climate Change: Contrasting Range Responses of Mediterranean and Temperate Quercus Species in the Western Palearctic, Ülker & Tav?ano?lu, Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.73055

Over a century of global decline in the growth performance of marine fishes, Yan et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-026-69416-x

Predicted Effects of Climate Change on Future Distributions of Ectomycorrhizal Fungi, Qi et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.1002/ece3.72743

Severe and widespread coral reef damage during the 2014-2017 Global Coral Bleaching Event, Eakin et al., Nature Communications Open Access 10.1038/s41467-025-67506-w

Significant Increase in Summer Vegetation Growth (NDVI) in Eastern Siberia in the Mid-1990s: Combined Effects of Summer North Atlantic SST and May Land–Atmosphere Interaction, Tian et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-24-0535.1

Stronger Sensitivity of Plant Photosynthesis to Rising CO2 in High Elevation Ecosystems, , 10.1111/ele.70328/v1/review3

The Evolution of Southern Ocean Net Primary Production in a Changing Climate: Challenges and Opportunities, Tagliabue et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70653

Tree Regeneration After Unprecedented Forest Disturbances in Central Europe Is Robust but Maladapted to Future Climate Change, et al., Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.18449661

Warmer climate disrupts the trade-off between post-fire loss and recovery of grassland GPP, Cui et al., Global and Planetary Change 10.1016/j.gloplacha.2026.105363

GHG sources & sinks, flux, related geochemistry

An anthropogenically induced gradient in net carbon exchange of a temperate mangrove forest in South Australia, Yang et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1720464

Discrepancies in national inventories reveal a large emissions gap in the wastewater sector, , Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.17715043

Dissolved Organic Matter Composition in the Laurentian Great Lakes Ice and Its Contribution to Spring Melt, Arsenault et al., Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025jg009367

Elucidating the Role of Marine Benthic Carbon in a Changing World, Schultz et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2025gb008643

Empirical Parameterization of Organic Matter Reactivity in Subsea Permafrost and Implications for Greenhouse Gas Fluxes From a Warming Arctic Shelf, Arndt et al., Global Biogeochemical Cycles 10.1029/2025gb008712

High-efficiency methane consumption by atmospheric methanotrophs in subsurface karst caves: The irrefutable methane sink, Liu et al., Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.ady5942

How can we trust TROPOMI based methane emissions estimation: calculating emissions over unidentified source regions, Zheng et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-2025-1446

Impact of Land Use Change and Drought on the Net Emissions of Carbon Dioxide and Methane From Tropical Peatlands in Southeast Asia, Hirano et al., AGU Advances Open Access 10.1029/2025av001861

Inhibition of Arctic Soil Dissolved Organic Carbon Export by the Retention Capacity of Thawing Permafrost, He et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl120418

Mature riparian alder forest acts as a strong and consistent carbon sink, Krasnova et al., Biogeosciences Open Access pdf 10.5194/bg-22-7089-2025

Patterns and drivers of African carbon recovery after disturbance, Li et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111061

Reducing the Discrepancy in Quantifying the Temperature Dependence of Global Wetland Methane Emission, Hu et al., Global Change Biology 10.1111/gcb.70748

Revegetation induces asynchronous changes of deep soil carbon and nitrogen stocks in the Loess Plateau of China, Wang et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access pdf 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1754187

Seasonal Controls of Biogenic Uptake and Anthropogenic Emissions on Carbon Dynamics in a Post-Industrial Shrinking City, Hwang & Papuga, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences 10.1029/2025jg008867

Standardising research on marine biological carbon pathways required to estimate sequestration at Polar and sub-Polar latitudes, Morley et al., Earth Open Access 10.1016/j.earscirev.2025.105372

Substantial contribution of trees outside forests to above-ground carbon across China, Su et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access 10.1038/s43247-025-03150-y

Super-sniffer aeroplane finds oil fields’ hidden emissions, , Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00335-z

The impact of warming on peak-season ecosystem carbon uptake is influenced by dominant species in warmer sites, Brinkhoff et al., Open Access 10.5194/egusphere-egu25-245

The ocean’s biological carbon pump under pressure, Middelburg, Science Advances Open Access 10.1126/sciadv.aef3182

Unlocking the Impact of Temperature and Salinity on Greenhouse Gas Emissions From Estuarine Salt Marsh Soils, Sang et al., Earth's Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025ef006912

What is causing the methane surge?, Nisbet & Manning, Science 10.1126/science.aee6226

Why methane surged in the atmosphere during the early 2020s, Ciais et al., Science 10.1126/science.adx8262

CO2 capture, sequestration science & engineering

Afforestation-Related Fertilisation Quickly Turns Barren Cutaway Peatland Into a Carbon Dioxide Sink, Buzacott et al., Global Change Biology Open Access pdf 10.1111/gcb.70644

Careful land allocation for carbon dioxide removal is critical for safeguarding biodiversity, , Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02567-3

Clarifying what is meant by greenhouse gas ‘removals’ and categorising types of ‘removal-related activities’, Brander et al., Carbon Management Open Access 10.1080/17583004.2026.2625956

Decarbonization

A perspective on carbon footprint of decentralized manufacturing of lithium-ion cells industrialization, Jayadevan et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2026.1630913

Cost competitiveness and carbon reduction of battery-electric vehicle and battery-swapping electric vehicle with incentive policy in China, Li et al., Energy for Sustainable Development Open Access 10.1016/j.esd.2026.101938

Evidence of a cascading positive tipping point towards electric vehicles, Mercure et al., Open Access pdf 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3979270/v1

Next-gen geothermal could bring clean power to much more of the planet, Battersby, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Open Access 10.1073/pnas.2601712123

Quantifying land-use metrics for solar photovoltaic projects in the western United States, Hu et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02862-5

Racing against the clock: Modeling the global transition to renewable energy technologies, Bessi et al., Energy Research & Social Science 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104541

Study on phased strategies for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) industrialization based on a tripartite evolutionary game, Zhou et al., Frontiers in Environmental Science Open Access pdf 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1731253

Timely deployment of best-in-class technologies to enable development and decarbonise construction, Dunant et al., Nature Communications Open Access pdf 10.1038/s41467-025-67489-8

Geoengineering climate

Injection near the stratopause mitigates the stratospheric side effects of sulfur-based climate intervention, Yu et al., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Open Access pdf 10.5194/acp-25-18449-2025

Climate change communications & cognition

(Not) all in this together? Viewing climate change as a question of (in)justice rather than common fate increases collective action, Hartwich et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102944

A call for robust evaluations of the impacts of serious games for climate change mitigation: The Climate Fresk as a global case study, Hognon et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102942

Beyond ownership structures: Oil company climate discourses in authoritarian Russia and Kazakhstan, Martus et al., Energy Research & Social Science Open Access 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104582

Can neighbourhood interventions strengthen collective climate action?, Klöckner et al., Open Access pdf 10.31223/x5741b

Differences within global movements: insights from FFF climate protests in Western and Eastern Europe, Buzogány et al., Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2026.2623726

From anxiety to hope: Do climate change-related emotions influence actual environmental behaviour?, Schwarz et al., Journal of Environmental Psychology 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102939

When climate action meets low efficacy: Rethinking the mental health consequences of pro-environmental engagement, Heriansyah, Journal of Environmental Psychology Open Access 10.1016/j.jenvp.2026.102951

Agronomy, animal husbundry, food production & climate change

Determinants of climate change adaptation strategies’ adoption among maize farming households: evidence from Malawi, Nkhoma et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2026.1743868

Exploring the influence of cognitive differences on farmers’ participation in forestry carbon sequestration projects: evidence from China, Zhu et al., Frontiers in Forests and Global Change Open Access 10.3389/ffgc.2026.1746843

Future viability of European vineyards using bioclimatic climate analogues, Allaman et al., Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5344049

Net ecosystem carbon balance and greenhouse gas budget of a canola-wheat cropping system in the northern prairies, Ferland et al., Agricultural and Forest Meteorology 10.1016/j.agrformet.2026.111044

Promote or inhibit: how climate policy uncertainty may shape extreme weather’s impact on grain production, Zhang et al., Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution Open Access 10.3389/fevo.2026.1753076

Study on the Suitable Area of Ratoon Rice in China Under Climate Change, Luo et al., Ecology and Evolution Open Access pdf 10.1002/ece3.72724

Synergies in environmental and agricultural water availability under climate change, Lester et al., Nature Sustainability 10.1038/s41893-025-01720-8

Hydrology, hydrometeorology & climate change

Australian Rainfall Projections Associated with ENSO Diversity in a Warming Climate: Insights from CMIP6 Large Ensembles, Li et al., Journal of Climate 10.1175/jcli-d-25-0218.1

Changes in the Frequency of Flood Events Across the United States Detectable by the Middle of This Century, Kim et al., Earth's Future Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025ef006677

ENSO's Impacts on Southeastern Australia's Future Rainfall Risk, Huang et al., Geophysical Research Letters Open Access pdf 10.1029/2025gl118673

Global Warming Enhances Tropical Cyclone–Induced Extreme Precipitation in the Arabian Sea: Insights From Convection-Permitting Model Experiments, Pathaikara et al., Earth's Future Open Access 10.1029/2025ef007294

Long-term spatiotemporal analysis of variation in soil moisture over Iran, Darand & Tashan, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar 10.1016/j.jastp.2026.106727

Multidimensional Flood Risk Analysis of High-Speed Rail Systems Under Future Climate Change, Liu et al., Risk Analysis 10.1111/risa.70184

Recent and projected changes in rain-on-snow event characteristics across Svalbard, Vickers et al., The Cryosphere Open Access 10.5194/tc-19-6907-2025

Renewability of fossil groundwaters affected by present-day climate conditions, Ferguson et al., Nature Geoscience pdf 10.1038/s41561-026-01923-4

Climate change economics

Climate Change and Economic Sustainability: Empirical Evidence on the Dynamics of Adjusted Net Savings in Benin's Regions, Logozo & Kougblenou Menou, Climate Resilience and Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1002/cli2.70026

Climate Shocks and the Poor: A Review of the Literature, Triyana et al., 10.1596/1813-9450-10742

Compound dry-and-hot extremes exacerbate income inequality and poverty in Europe, Schleypen et al., Global Environmental Change Open Access 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2025.103106

How Temperature Drives Health Insurance Demand?, Chen et al., Risk Analysis 10.1111/risa.70181

Increasingly frequent compound climate events worsen economic disparities in China's urban agglomerations, He et al., Urban Climate 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102824

Modelling decarbonisation pathways in Europe: Balancing ambition and economic feasibility, Chyong & Schmidt, Open Access 10.2139/ssrn.5293284

Climate change mitigation public policy research

A multi-stakeholder assessment of the implications of non-energy policies on renewable energy development in the Philippines, Benitez & Dhakal, Energy for Sustainable Development 10.1016/j.esd.2025.101919

Advancing representations of equity and justice in climate mitigation futures, Pachauri et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000763

Determinants of firms’ acceptability of carbon taxation: a systematic literature review, Mwang'Onda et al., Climate Policy Open Access 10.1080/14693062.2026.2627746

EU policy on forest carbon sinks revisited, Kallio & Garvik, Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2026.104332

Global governance complex for climate change: a bibliometric analysis, Li & Yaakop, Discover Sustainability Open Access pdf 10.1007/s43621-025-02089-6

Ireland's carbon emission trends and degrowth opportunities: Based on modified Tapio - LMDI model, Zhao et al., Energy Policy 10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114943

Mapping organized interests across arenas in Australian climate policy, Downie & Halpin, Environmental Politics 10.1080/09644016.2025.2597645

Navigating carbon neutrality: policy pathways and consistency on industrial decarbonization in China, Zhou et al., Carbon Balance and Management Open Access 10.1186/s13021-025-00356-7

Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals in Asia requires ambitious climate targets combined with sustainability-focused measures, Zhang et al., Communications Earth & Environment Open Access pdf 10.1038/s43247-025-02970-2

Taking climate justice to court, Schack, Environmental Sociology Open Access 10.1080/23251042.2026.2627448

Climate change adaptation & adaptation public policy research

A method for tracking national progress towards climate change adaptation, Brullo et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2026.100800

Climate change adaptation status of Turkish local governments: A comparative analysis, Küçük Horasan & Özerol, Urban Climate Open Access 10.1016/j.uclim.2026.102815

Enabling democratic shifts through climate adaptation: the climate adaptation democracy framework, Comelli et al., Climate Policy 10.1080/14693062.2026.2624955

Exclusionary Environmentalism: Exploring Gender and Antifeminism in Far-Right Ecologisms, Brodtmann, Environmental Communication Open Access 10.1080/17524032.2025.2596614

Expert agreement on key elements of transformational adaptation to climate risks, Biesbroek et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02548-y

Exploring the coherence of urban heat adaptation plans, Tuomimaa et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1741647

Integrating value systems and place-based characteristics in climate risk assessments, Reveco et al., Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1719404

Persistent vulnerability and precarious futures: the limits of adaptation in ‘climate migrant’ informal settlements of coastal Bangladesh, et al., Open Access 10.6084/m9.figshare.31300234.v1

Resource mapping amid climate crisis for protection of hunter gatherer community livelihoods in Northern Tanzania, Bwagalilo, Frontiers in Climate Open Access pdf 10.3389/fclim.2025.1691766

Climate change impacts on human health

Assessing children’s vulnerability to climate change in Small Island Developing States – A case study from Saint Kitts and Nevis, Ashorn et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000789

Climate Change and Disparities in Extreme Heat Exposure for Socially Vulnerable Areas in the Contiguous United States, Parsons et al., Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.174139309.92730243/v1

Early-life heat exposure increases risk of neurodevelopmental delay in preschool children, Cai et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-026-02560-w

Expanding compound heat and ultraviolet radiation stress amplifies exposure risks for elderly populations, , Open Access 10.5281/zenodo.17568494

Overlooked toll of climate change on migrant children in the Americas, Pintea et al., Nature Climate Change 10.1038/s41558-025-02525-5

The True Cost of Heat: Evaluating Heat-Related Mortality Estimation Methods in Texas, Rutt & Dessler, Open Access pdf 10.22541/essoar.175376679.98846268/v1

Other

Experimenting for impact: Combining research with advocacy for climate stability, Suter et al., PLOS Climate Open Access 10.1371/journal.pclm.0000837

Mapping the epistemic geography of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (1995–2022), Bau Larsen et al., Environmental Science & Policy Open Access 10.1016/j.envsci.2025.104291

The influence of incidental emotion on novice Pilots’ approach Decision-Making under uncertainty in the context of climate Challenges, Wang et al., Climate Risk Management Open Access 10.1016/j.crm.2025.100754

Informed opinion, nudges & major initiatives

Can the clean-energy revolution save us from climate catastrophe?, Tollefson, Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00332-2

Securing the past for the future – why climate proxy archives should be protected, Bebchuk & Büntgen, Boreas Open Access pdf 10.1111/bor.70039

Support people and their livelihoods rather than fossil-fuel industries, , Nature 10.1038/d41586-026-00382-6

Articles/Reports from Agencies and Non-Governmental Organizations Addressing Aspects of Climate Change

Beyond Power Demand: How AI-Driven Metals Inflation Is Testing Utility Regulation, Shi et al., Morningstar/DBRS

Accelerating demand and material cost inflation result in a widening mismatch: utilities are being asked to expand their networks faster at precisely the moment when the unit cost of doing so is structurally higher. Utilities are faced with the impact of both cyclical and structural inflation on their capital planning and requirements. Regulatory and political constraints will determine whether cost recovery occurs quickly enough and broadly enough to align with accelerating capital requirements.

Poll Shows GOP Voters Support Solar Energy, American-Made Solar, Fabrizio, Lee & Associates, First Solar

A national poll by the authors found widespread support for solar energy among Republicans, Republican-leaning Independents, and voters who supported President Donald J. Trump. The poll of 800 GOP+ voters found that they are in favor of the use of utility-scale solar by a more than 20-point margin, with 51% in favor; if the panels used for solar energy are American made with no ties to China, support for solar energy soars higher. Those in favor jump to 70%, while only 19% are opposed; 68% agree that the United States needs all forms of electricity generation, including utility solar, to be built for lowering electricity costs, compared to 22% who disagreed; 79% agree that the government should allow all forms of electricity generation, including utility-scale solar, to compete on their own merits and without political interference, versus 11% who disagreed; a clear majority (52%) of GOP+ voters are more likely to support a Congressional candidate if they support an all-of-the-above energy agenda, including the use of solar; and 51% are more likely to vote for a candidate who supported an American company building a solar panel manufacturing plant in the US.

New England’s Offshore Wind Solution. The Region Can Ride Through Cold-Weather Demand Surges with Local Renewable Energy, Susan Muller, Union of Concerned Scientists

Wind energy off the New England coast can powerfully reinforce the reliability of the region's electric grid, particularly during winter when the system is most vulnerable to energy shortages. Combined with the energy available from onshore wind and solar resources, an offshore wind fleet can support a shift toward local solutions for winter reliability in New England, bringing consumers much-needed relief from high seasonal electricity bills. The authors' analysis of winter 2024–2025 wind speed data shows that the energy delivered by just two offshore wind projects, totaling 1,500 megawatts (MW) of capacity, would have lowered the risk of power outages, based on a key reliability metric, by 55 percent over the course of the season. A larger fleet of 3,500 MW would have reduced the risk of outages by 75 percent. In either case, the scale of energy delivered by an offshore wind fleet would have increased the total winter energy supply from local renewable resources above the energy supply from imported liquified natural gas.

South Sudan. Country Climate and Development Report, Ling et al., World Bank Group

South Sudan has fallen into a vicious cycle of fragility, conflict, and climate vulnerability, with climate change acting as a threat multiplier, exacerbating displacement, food insecurity, social dislocation, resource conflict, and grievance. Already one of the fastest-warming countries, 80 percent of South Sudan’s population depends on climate-vulnerable livelihoods. More than half of the population is chronically food insecure, due to a combination of conflict and climate factors. The devastating floods of recent years are likely to become the new normal, and will be joined by increasing climate stress on labor productivity, agrifood systems, and human health. The authors identify priority investments to strengthen resilience in flood risk management, resilient rural livelihoods, sustainable natural resource use, and sustainable energy access. These require substantial fiscal resources, but the public finance system is under severe strain, and external support is set to decline sharply. Domestic revenue mobilization— particularly more targeted and effective use of existing government revenues and more efficient, transparent spending—is therefore essential to promote adaptation. Core governance reforms also need to support private sector development and climate action.

2025 Transmission Planning and Development Report Card, Zimmerman et al., Americans for a Clean Energy Grid

The authors provide an updated assessment of U.S. transmission planning and development across 10 regions. Overall, there was incremental improvement in transmission planning across most of the regions, driven largely by reforms to regional planning. However, many regions continue to fall well short of best practices, and progress remains uneven relative to the scale and urgency of today’s transmission needs. Accelerating electricity demand — driven by data centers, manufacturing growth, and electrification — is increasing the importance of forward-looking transmission planning, compressing planning timelines, and raising the stakes for regions that continue to rely on incremental or reactive approaches.

Clean Economy Works: December 2025 Analysis, Michael Timberlake, E2-Ecopnomy and Environment

At the end of 2025, the U.S. clean energy economy reached a clear inflection point. While companies continued to announce new investments—albeit fewer and with less capital per project that recent years—the pace and scale of cancellations, closures, and downsizes accelerated dramatically. The result was the largest annual reversal of clean energy investment since E2 began tracking in 2022. The data show not simply a slowdown, but a fundamental imbalance: for the first time, project losses far outpaced project gains, particularly in manufacturing sectors that had driven much of the post-IRA investment surge. This imbalance was felt across regions, industries, and political boundaries. For example, three dollars abandoned for every dollar announced: In 2025, clean energy cancellations and downsizes totaled $34.8 billion, nearly three times the $12.3 billion in new investment announced—producing a sharply negative return on clean energy investment activity; 38,031 manufacturing jobs eliminated: Project reversals and factory closures wiped out more clean energy jobs in 2025 than in all prior tracked years combined, resulting in a net loss of more than 15,000 jobs; $30.2 billion in manufacturing losses: Manufacturing facilities accounted for nearly all cancelled investment and job losses, underscoring the vulnerability of capital-intensive domestic clean energy supply chains.

Global wind and solar 2025: The G7 gap, Diren Kocaku?ak and Mengqi Zhang, Global Energy Monitor

The global clean power pipeline surged in 2025. Announced and in-progress wind and utility-scale solar projects expanded by 11%, increasing from 4.4 terawatts (TW) to almost 5 TW worldwide. Globally, utility-scale solar led the expansion of the pipeline. The utility-scale solar pipeline grew by 17% and passed 2.2 TW, while the wind pipeline grew by 7%. The world’s richest economies are not driving that growth. The G7 countries, despite controlling roughly half of global wealth, account for 11% of the world’s prospective wind and utility-scale solar capacity additions. The center of gravity for new clean power has shifted decisively toward emerging and developing economies. China crossed a historic threshold. Its combined operating wind, utility-scale solar, and distributed solar capacity surpassed 1.6 TW in 2025, triple the combined capacity of its closest peers, the United States and India. Distributed solar is a pillar of the clean energy transition, but it is not evenly spread. While it represents about 42% of all existing and prospective solar capacity worldwide, deployment remains heavily concentrated in a small number of countries, leaving significant room to expand.

Aspen National Water Strategy, Watson et al., Aspen Institute and the Nicholas Institute for Energy, Environment & Sustainability

Building on the insights and relationships developed through the Aspen-Nicholas Water Forum, the Aspen National Water Strategy Initiative advances a coordinated vision for U.S. water governance. Developed through 18 months of collaboration among water leaders from across sectors, regions, and backgrounds, the Aspen National Water Strategy identifies six interconnected strategies essential to securing water for America’s communities, economies, and ecosystems including elevating water security as a cornerstone of the nation’s economy; reforming water governance to establish clear structures and standards while enabling flexible, locally appropriate implementation; investing in rural water resources and services to strengthen rural communities and regional water security; equipping communities to adapt to rising water-related climate risks; modernizing water infrastructure while renewing existing assets; and accelerating the adoption of innovative water solutions at scale.

Hot stuff: geothermal energy in Europe, Tatiana Mindeková and Gianluca Geneletti, Ember

Advances in drilling and reservoir engineering are unlocking geothermal electricity across much wider parts of Europe, at a time when the power system needs firm, low-carbon supply and reduced reliance on fossil fuels. Once limited to a few favorable locations, geothermal is now positioned to scale. Around 43 GW of enhanced geothermal capacity in the European Union could be developed at costs below 100 €/MWh today, comparable to coal and gas electricity. The largest potential is concentrated in Hungary, followed by Poland, Germany and France. While representing only a fraction of Europe’s total geothermal potential, the identified EU-level deployment could deliver around 301 TWh of electricity per year, reflecting geothermal’s high capacity factor. This is equivalent to about 42% of coal- and gas-fired generation in the EU in 2025.

Cost Analysis of Heavy-Duty Vehicle Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stationary Power Plants, Reznicek et al., National Laboratory of the Rockies/National Renewable Energy Lab

Heavy-duty proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells could be a low-cost, low emission alternative to combustion turbines for re-electrifying hydrogen if used as part of a long duration grid energy storage systems. Many studies expect heavy duty PEM fuel cell production costs to reduce as manufacturing volumes ramp up and their expected durability of 25,000-30,000 hours aligns well with a 30-year life for hydrogen seasonal energy storage plants that would likely operate less than 10% of the year. The labor, material, and equipment costs associated with installing PEM fuel cells and their required balance of plant for stationary applications have not been thoroughly explored, however. This study performs a detailed design and cost analysis of a 100 MW stationary PEM fuel cell power plant, capturing costs such as cooling, power electronics, pipes, valves, fittings, cabling, conduit, concrete foundations, buildings, and land. It employs methods consistent with NLR's solar PV benchmarking cost analysis and annual technology baseline to derive the total installed costs of stationary PEM fuel cell plants that utilize heavy duty PEM fuel cells. The anticipated total cost of building a stationary PEM fuel cell plant with today's technology is $954/kW. This cost could reduce to $567/kW - $754/kW by 2050, depending on potential cost reductions in fuel cells, inverters, and transformers. Both the estimated current cost and potential future costs are on the lower end if not less than estimated costs associated with natural gas combustion turbines, which range from $900/kW to $1,500/kW according to the EIA. Because PEM fuel cells do not produce pollutants such as NOx and SOx and can have much higher efficiencies than combustion turbines while still maintaining adequate start-up times and dynamic capabilities, this suggests that stationary PEM fuel cells could outperform combustion turbines for hydrogen long duration grid storage applications on the grounds of capital cost, operating costs, and emissions. About New Research

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Installing the North Star battery was simpler and cheaper and than most other projects in the mining company's job list to reach real zero by 2030.

The post “Copy and paste:” Fortescue says installing big batteries are the easy part of its plans to reach real zero appeared first on Renew Economy.

Two conservation groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and Center for Food Safety, today sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to force officials to set a binding date to finalize federal protections for monarch butterflies under the Endangered Species Act.

The monarch was proposed for protection in December 2024, making the final listing due in December 2025. The groups argue the delay increases extinction risk for the nationally beloved pollinator.

“Comprehensive protections are urgently needed to ensure a future for these migratory wonders,” said Tierra Curry, endangered species co-director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “Monarchs unite us and it’s disgraceful that their future is being sacrificed to political nonsense.”

Instead of issuing the final listing at the end of 2025, Trump officials delayed the decision as a “long-term action,” with no definitive date for issuance provided. The federal assessment of the monarch’s status found that in the next 60 years western migratory monarchs have up to a 99% chance of going extinct and eastern monarchs have up to a 74% chance.

“The Service must finalize monarchs’ protections from their threats, including and especially pesticides, which have been a major driver of their rapid decline,” said George Kimbrell, legal director at the Center for Food Safety and counsel in the case. “The Service’s duty is to protect monarchs not corporations.”

Migratory monarchs have declined by more than 80% since the 1990s. Last year’s eastern population, who overwinter in the mountains of Mexico, was just one-third of the size needed to be out of the danger zone of collapse. Updated population data will publish this spring, but the population is expected to be about the same level.

The western population, who overwinter in forests on the California coast, is down more than 95% since the 1980s and numbered only 12,260 monarchs this year. That’s the third-lowest tally ever counted.

In 2014 the Center for Biological Diversity, Center for Food Safety, Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, and renowned monarch scientist Lincoln Brower filed a scientific and legal petition with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeking protection for the butterflies and their habitat under the Endangered Species Act. The butterflies were placed on a candidate waiting list for protection in 2020. The centers filed a lawsuit to elevate them from bureaucratic limbo resulting in the proposed listing in 2024.

Today’s lawsuit was filed in San Francisco in the U.S. District Court for the North District of California.

Background

In one of the longest migrations of any insect, at the end of summer eastern monarchs fly from the northern United States and southern Canada to overwinter together in high-elevation fir forests in Mexico. The population size is determined by measuring the area of trees turned vivid orange by the clusters of butterflies. Scientists estimate that 15 acres of occupied forest is the minimum threshold for the migrating pollinators to be above extinction risk in North America.

Monarchs face tremendous threats. Their initial decline was driven by widespread loss of milkweed, the caterpillar’s sole food source, due to increased use of the herbicide glyphosate on fields of corn and soybeans genetically engineered to resist it. Volatile herbicides sprayed on newer herbicide-resistant crops drift and reduce floral resources required by adult butterflies. All stages of monarchs are harmed by neonic insecticides used in crop seed coatings and on ornamental plants.

Climate change is damaging the forests where monarchs winter and extreme weather events are interfering with reproduction and migration. Grasslands and other green spaces that provide wildflowers for nectaring adults continue to be lost to development.

Millions of monarchs are killed by vehicles annually as they migrate across the continent. In their winter habitat in Mexico, forests and streams are being decimated to grow avocados for unsustainable U.S. demand. In California, more than 60 known overwintering forest sites have been cut down.

Listing has been indefinitely delayed for hundreds of imperiled species in addition to the monarch as their protections have been deemed “long-term actions.” The Fish and Wildlife Service lost 18% of its staff last year, including more than 500 scientists, and the Endangered Species Act listing budget was slashed to 2004 levels.

In 2025 not a single plant or animal was protected under the Endangered Species Act for the first time since 1981.

Fortescue has launched the first of its massive battery trains, which it says the hardest part of its goal to eliminate fossil fuels by 2030.

The post Fortescue launches its first electric locomotives – with batteries the size of more than 200 Tesla EVs appeared first on Renew Economy.

The first gigawatt-scale battery built by AGL has begun charging and discharging from the grid and will be guided by algorithms developed by the company's own in-house team.

The post Coal giant’s first gigawatt-scale battery charges up, guided by some in-house algorithms appeared first on Renew Economy.

By Amanda Eggert, Montana Free Press Whether they’re inclined to support or oppose them, many Montanans are hungry for more information, and data-center developers have been reluctant to provide it.  Montana Environmental Information Center Executive Director Anne Hedges told MTFP that these companies might be looking for “easy pickings” in Montana, but residents of Butte, …

The post As AI investors eye Montana for new data centers, communities brace for water impact appeared first on Montana Environmental Information Center - MEIC.

DENVER—President Donald Trump has nominated Scott Socha, a long-time executive at park concessionaire Delaware North, as the director of the National Park Service.

Socha has a history with the Trump administration going back to 2017, when he attended a meeting with then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke that was organized by Congressman Chris Collins of New York, who at the time was under investigation for insider trading. (Collins was later sentenced to 26 months in prison.)

At the time, Delaware North was suing the National Park Service for $51 million in a contract dispute over trademarks that Delaware North had filed during its time as the concessionaire at Yosemite National Park. Those trademarks included the names of iconic lodges and camps that pre-dated Delaware North, including “Ahwahnee,” “Yosemite Lodge,” and “Yosemite National Park” itself.

The Center for Western Priorities released the following statement from Deputy Director Aaron Weiss:

“Scott Socha was all in on the Trump administration’s park privatization efforts last time around, even sitting at the table with the Interior secretary and a corrupt congressman. Now President Trump and Secretary Burgum want to give him another bite at the apple, taking over an agency that has been decimated by DOGE and is under increasing pressure to whitewash and rewrite American history. Senators must approach this nomination with the utmost skepticism given Scott Socha’s history and the current state of our national parks.”

 

“Our public lands belong to all Americans, not the concessionaires who try to trademark and cash in on the names of our nation’s crown jewels.”

What we know so far:

• In May 2017, Socha, in his role as the president of Delaware North’s parks and resorts division, attended a meeting in Secretary Ryan Zinke’s office with Delaware North CEO Jerry Jacobs, Jr., Congressman Chris Collins, and Zinke’s top staff.
• Documents obtained by the Center for Western Priorities show that Collins’s office spent weeks badgering Zinke’s staff for the meeting, trying to place Jacobs on Zinke’s nascent “Made in America” Outdoor Recreation Advisory Committee.
• At the time, Delaware North was suing the National Park Service, asserting that its trademarks at Yosemite National Park were worth $51 million.
• In November, Zinke named Jacobs to the recreation advisory committee.
• In July 2018, Socha attended the first meeting of the advisory committee along with Jacobs and Zinke.
• In July 2019, the Interior department settled the lawsuit with Delaware North, paying the company $3.8 million in taxpayer funds to restore the names of the historic lodges at Yosemite.

Featured image: The Ahwanee Hotel at Yosemite National Park, which was the subject of a trademark dispute after Delaware North lost its concessionaire license in 2016. Photo: Wayne Hsieh, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

The post Statement on nomination of Scott Socha to lead National Park Service appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Act. AB 1900, also known as CalCare, would enact a comprehensive framework for a single-payer health care coverage system in California at a time when California voters are ready to champion transformational changes in health care.

Türkiye’s COP31 chief has condemned backsliding on global climate action as “unacceptable”, but said efforts to cut emissions in the coal-reliant nation should not come at the expense of economic growth.

Murat Kurum, Türkiye’s environment minister, warned countries that flexibility in implementing climate targets “is now at zero”, speaking in Istanbul on Thursday after a first strategy meeting with officials from Australia – the summit’s co-host – and joined by last year’s COP presidency Brazil and the UN climate body.

But when pressed about Türkiye’s own reliance on fossil fuels, Kurum said it was important to keep a balance between growth and climate action in developing nations.

“We are exerting efforts to reduce emissions on one hand, but continue the growth and development of our country on the other,” Kurum said, speaking through an interpreter.

“We cannot simplify things down to only fossil fuels,” he added, emphasising that while “one branch of the struggle [in the climate crisis] is oil, there are 80-85 topics including renewable energy, organic agriculture [and] resilient cities”.

Fossil fuel dependence

Burning fossil fuels is the primary cause of global warming, responsible for nearly 68% of global human-made greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2025, coal generated around a third of Türkiye’s electricity – a slight decline compared to 2024 – followed by fossil gas, which rose to 23% of the power mix, and hydropower at 15.8%, according to figures published by the country’s energy ministry.

• Feb 12, 2026 News Climate action is “weapon” for security in unstable world, UN climate chief says With geopolitical tensions rising, Simon Stiell urges leaders to accelerate global climate cooperation in pursuit of a safer world Read more
• Feb 9, 2026 News Vanuatu pushes new UN resolution demanding full climate compensation The Pacific island nation wants the UN General Assembly to enforce last year’s landmark court decision on states’ climate responsibility, a first draft shows Read more

Days before the COP31 meeting in Istanbul, state oil company Turkish Petroleum signed new oil and gas exploration deals with Chevron and ExxonMobil in an effort to increase production from the Gabar field in the country’s southeast, as well as in the Black Sea.

Clean energy has been growing in Türkiye in recent years, with record installations of wind and solar. But experts have warned that Ankara is still failing to seize its “huge” renewables potential and instead keeps on heavily subsidising coal power.

Kurum said the Mediterranean country “will continue taking steps regarding renewable energy” and enhance its nuclear energy capabilities so that it will “no longer need fossil fuels in time”.

‘Safeguard development priorities’

After countries disagreed at COP30 on starting a formal process to craft a roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels, Brazil promised to deliver a blueprint through an informal initiative before this year’s climate summit in Antalya.

Referring to the roadmap, the COP31 incoming president said his team “would focus on topics that enable us to maintain those efforts”. He added that “in our consultations, we will safeguard the development priorities of the countries because the needs of developed and developing countries can vary”.

Late last year, Australian climate minister Chris Bowen – who will formally hold the title of “President of Negotiations” at COP31 – said he would “continue to argue” for a transition away from coal, oil and gas.

Türkiye is officially classed as a developed nation under the UN climate regime, but when it signed up to the Paris Agreement, it said it would pursue emissions-cutting efforts as a developing country.

The COP31 incoming president said Türkiye is battling the negative impacts of climate change, like floods and droughts, and is “approaching the point where we are experiencing water scarcity”.

“We always talk about fossil fuels,” he added, “but water will become more valuable and more significant than oil.”

The post COP31 chief slams climate backsliding, but rejects priority focus on fossil fuels appeared first on Climate Home News.

President Donald Trump’s approach to climate change rests on one key premise: Greenhouse gases are not that bad.

This is a simple argument — albeit one that flies in the face of the scientific consensus on climate change — but it could have profound consequences. If carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases spewed by cars and trucks are not particularly dangerous, the logic goes, then they can’t be considered air pollutants as defined by the Clean Air Act. That means that the Environmental Protection Agency can’t regulate them, and landmark federal rules that cracked down on vehicle tailpipe exhaust and improved fuel efficiency are invalid.

The Trump administration took a major step toward advancing this argument on Thursday. The EPA formalized its repeal of the so-called endangerment finding, a federal rule from 2009 that found greenhouse gas emissions can endanger “public health and welfare.” This finding provides the legal basis for almost every major climate regulation, from auto exhaust standards to caps on emissions from power plants. While the Trump administration has already initiated individual repeals of many of those rules, the latest move seeks to go much further by preventing future presidents from reestablishing any such regulations to combat climate change.

“This is a big one if you’re into environment,” President Trump said at the White House on Thursday. Joined by EPA administrator Lee Zeldin, he called the repeal “the largest deregulatory action in U.S. history” and claimed, without providing evidence, that the action would eliminate $1.3 trillion in regulatory costs and would cause car prices to come “tumbling down.” He described prior climate regulations as a “green new scam” and blamed them for blackouts and inflation.

“That’s all dead, gone, over,” he said.

But the administration’s move may well backfire. Legal experts say that regulating carbon dioxide is well-supported by the text of the Clean Air Act — a fact that even the conservative Supreme Court has recognized in multiple cases, suggesting the court could rule against the administration if the repeal winds up on their docket. (A coalition of health groups has already announced its intent to sue.) And even if the court did affirm that the federal government can no longer regulate greenhouse gases under existing law, states and private parties would have an open lane to set their own greenhouse gas rules or sue over the harms caused by climate change, respectively, given that they would no longer be preempted by federal authority. That would create regulatory chaos, potentially forcing Congress to restore the EPA’s authority.

“I think this is where there is an incredible overreach from this administration, and I think that this is when they will be held to account in the courts,” said Rachel Cleetus, the senior policy director at the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental advocacy organization. “It’s just throwing spaghetti at a wall.”

The Clean Air Act requires the federal government to regulate “any air pollutant” that “endangers … public health or welfare.” In the landmark 2007 case Massachusetts v. EPA, the Supreme Court ruled that this mandate includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane, even though those gases mix in with the global atmosphere rather than lingering in high concentrations at ground level, like most pollutants targeted by the law. Moreover, the act specifically states that danger to public welfare could include effects on ”weather” and “climate.” 

The late Justice Antonin Scalia dissented from the 2007 decision, and current conservative justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito have urged a reconsideration of the case, saying the Clean Air Act should only apply to “local” pollutants. Trump’s EPA revived that logic in its early proposals to repeal the endangerment finding.

Still, the Supreme Court has upheld its Massachusetts decision in several other cases. Even in 2022’s West Virginia v. EPA, when the current court overruled an ambitious program to phase out coal-fired power, the conservative justices did not argue that the EPA lacked the authority to regulate carbon. A few months later, when Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act, it amended the Clean Air Act to create grant programs “that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other air pollutants,” a strong implication that the act does cover those gases. The Supreme Court refused to hear a legal challenge to the endangerment finding as recently as late 2023.

“It seems to me unlikely that the court would say that the EPA has no power to regulate carbon,” said Michael Lewyn, a professor of environmental law at Touro Law Center and critic of environmental regulations.

Read Next Trump’s EPA wants to demolish the bedrock of US climate regulation. It won’t be easy. Naveena Sadasivam

Other legal experts expressed more uncertainty, noting that none of the members of the 2007 majority are still on the court, and that at least one newer conservative justice, Brett Kavanaugh, has expressed skepticism about using the Clean Air Act to regulate greenhouse gases.

“Predicting the outcome of any Supreme Court case is difficult these days,” said Romany Webb, deputy director of the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia University. “I think it’s especially hard here.”

The EPA has delayed publication of its final repeal for months following the release of a draft proposal in July. In its draft repeal, the Trump administration cited a contrarian report drafted by its Department of Energy, which argued that responsibility for global warming isn’t certain and that its harmful effects may be overstated. A federal judge recently ruled that the report was drafted illegally, but did not strike it from the federal record, meaning the EPA could still cite the climate skeptics to argue that greenhouse gases don’t endanger public health.

“[The Obama administration] claimed new powers over the vehicles we drive, even though the best reading of the Clean Air Act clearly states otherwise,” said Zeldin at Thursday’s press conference. “The endangerment finding and the regulations that were based on it didn’t just regulate emissions, it regulated and targeted the American dream.” He condemned mileage improvements and efficient start-stop capabilities as “climate participation trophies.”

The agency chose to repeal the endangerment finding for “mobile sources” such as cars, but it did not repeal its separate endangerment findings for emissions from “stationary sources” like power plants and oil wells. Several groups representing polluting industries, including the American Petroleum Institute, or API, had urged the administration to focus on cars — likely because of the increased legal liability they’d face if carbon pollution is no longer subject to federal regulation. It’s unclear if this distinction holds water, though, since the other endangerment findings rely on the original 2009 finding for emissions from vehicles.

In response to questions from Grist about the consequences of the repeal, a spokesperson for the EPA defended the move as part of an effort to lower consumer costs.

“EPA is actively working to deliver a historic action for the American people,” the spokesperson said. “Sixteen years ago, the Obama administration made one of the most damaging decisions in modern history. … In the intervening years, hardworking families and small businesses have paid the price as a result.”

Read Next The consequences of Trump’s war on climate in 7 charts Grist staff

If the Supreme Court upholds the EPA’s argument that it can’t regulate greenhouse gases, it would open a Pandora’s box of complications. The Clean Air Act requires states to seek a special waiver from the EPA in order to set emissions standards that are different from the federal government’s, which is why California needed special permission to impose its now-cancelled phaseout of gasoline-powered cars. But if the Clean Air Act no longer applied to carbon, states could theoretically set their own vehicle greenhouse gas emissions standards without approval from the feds. 

The EPA tried to write around this difficulty in its filing, arguing that the Clean Air Act both prevents it from regulating carbon and also gives it the authority to preempt states from doing the same.

“I think that that’s going to be hotly contested,” said Amanda Lineberry, a senior associate at the Georgetown Climate Center and former environmental lawyer in the Department of Justice. “That’s a delicate needle to thread.”

State-led regulation of carbon pollution would mean regulatory chaos. Automakers could be required to sell electric vehicles in California, the nation’s largest car market, but would have freedom to sell gas-guzzling pickups in nearby Idaho. Trucks in Massachusetts might need to be ultra fuel-efficient, but neighboring New Hampshire might not. The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, an auto industry trade group, has already worried over this possibility. In official public comments on the draft of the endangerment finding repeal, it said that the end of federal preemption “[raises] the risk that automakers would be subject to multiple inconsistent regulatory regimes.”

“California and others that have been acting to promote the transition to hybrid and fully electric transportation will not back down,” said Mary Nichols, an EPA official during the Clinton administration and former chair of the California Air Resources Board, the state’s climate change regulator. “But this is the most significant official roadblock the feds can set up to protect the oil industry’s dominance of transportation.” 

If the federal government does stop regulating carbon, it could unleash a barrage of lawsuits. The Supreme Court ruled in 2011’s American Electric Power v. Connecticut that the Clean Air Act bars climate-related lawsuits against corporations under federal common law. As long as EPA regulates greenhouse gases, individuals can’t sue oil companies and power plants over their contributions to climate change in federal court. That’s why most climate lawsuits from states and individuals have played out in state courts, and why oil companies have long sought to move them to federal courts. In a Supreme Court brief last year, the American Petroleum Institute cited “the inherently federal nature of emissions regulation,” invoking the liability shield provided by the Clean Air Act. The endangerment finding repeal could shatter that shield.

Nevertheless, API pioneered many of the arguments now wielded against the endangerment finding. In 1999, the group held a meeting of industry lobbyists who strategized challenges to an early EPA proposal to regulate greenhouse gases, according to documents first reported by DeSmog and compiled by Fieldnotes, a research group focused on the oil and gas industry. At the meeting, the API circulated a legal analysis noting that there is “no clear-cut, explicit answer in statute” on the greenhouse gas question, and that “CO2 does not endanger public health and welfare and there are no cost-effective systems of emission control.” In 2008, after the Massachusetts decision, the group argued that the EPA had not produced “sufficient evidence of potential effects and harm,” and it opposed reducing tailpipe emissions in the U.S. on the grounds that this would not end climate change on its own. 

Trump’s EPA used many of these same arguments in its proposed endangerment finding repeal, demonstrating how much his deregulatory agenda owes to the oil industry’s work. But now the API is taking a different stance, seeking to protect itself from federal lawsuits. In its comments to the EPA last September, it stated that it “believes EPA has authority to regulate [greenhouse gases]” under the Clean Air Act.

“There’s a reason industry directly regulated by these rules hasn’t been clamoring for the ideological extremes,” said Hana Vizcarra, a senior climate attorney at the environmental nonprofit Earthjustice. 

If the flood of lawsuits and state regulations does become a threat to the industry, Congress could resolve the entire debate with a single line of legislative text, affirming in unambiguous terms that the Clean Air Act gives the EPA the power to regulate greenhouse gases. Republican lawmakers have no incentive to do such a thing now, but the unintended consequences likely to follow from the endangerment finding repeal could someday force the legislature’s hand. 

“It’s going to be chaotic,” said Vizcarra.

Naveena Sadasivam and Zoya Teirstein contributed reporting to this story.

Editor’s note: Earthjustice is an advertiser with Grist. Advertisers have no role in Grist’s editorial decisions.

toolTips('.classtoolTips3','Carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and other gases that prevent heat from escaping Earth’s atmosphere. Together, they act as a blanket to keep the planet at a liveable temperature in what is known as the “greenhouse effect.” Too many of these gases, however, can cause excessive warming, disrupting fragile climates and ecosystems.'); toolTips('.classtoolTips7','A powerful greenhouse gas that accounts for about 11% of global emissions, methane is the primary component of natural gas and is emitted into the atmosphere by landfills, oil and natural gas systems, agricultural activities, coal mining, and wastewater treatment, among other pathways. Over a 20-year period, it is roughly 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.');

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Trump just killed the EPA’s ability to fight climate change. It may backfire. on Feb 12, 2026.

After rallying through 2025 (not without some deep troughs) and into this year driven by supply disruptions in Indonesia and South America alongside tariff disruptions, copper prices are pulling back again. 

Copper for March delivery fell over 3% in New York to $5.78 a pound or $12,740 a tonne on Thursday and is now trading 12% below highs hit just over two weeks ago. 

Uncertainty on copper markets was heightened after satellite data showed January smelter activity was the lowest on record since tracking began nearly a decade ago.

Earth-i’s latest SAVANT Global Copper Smelting Index shows that 14.3% of global smelting capacity was inactive in January. Activity fell 2.5% from December, a notable drop during what is typically the industry’s most active period. 

It was also the first January in seven years to show a double‑digit inactivity rate and is now 6.8% above the three‑year average. Earth-i’s satellites cover some 95% of global capacity. 

The global headline number masks significant regional divergence. China, home to 45% of smelting capacity tracked by SAVANT, reported an inactive‑capacity reading of just 7.5%. 

Active tonnage ex-China is now 1.2 million tonnes lower than the same period a year ago, highlighting the severity of the slowdown outside China. 

The steepest year‑on‑year drop came from Asia and Oceania, which accounted for more than 850,000 tonnes of the decline, despite a month-on-month increase over December (the only region to do so). 

The region continues to reel from major disruptions, including the closure of the Isabel Leyte (PASAR) smelter in the Philippines and the temporary shutdown of the Gresik and Manyar smelters in Indonesia. Both Indonesian plants were forced offline after the mud‑rush at the Grasberg mine in September, which curtailed upstream and downstream operations. 

South America and Europe each recorded declines in active tonnage of more than 100,000 tonnes. In South America, much of the decline stems from the ongoing outage at Salvador (Potrerillos) in Chile, which has remained offline following a chimney collapse in June 2025. 

Africa, meanwhile, saw the most pronounced deterioration in January. The continent’s inactive‑capacity reading jumped 12.9% to 28.4%, the sharpest relative monthly drop of any region. Yet Africa also delivered one of the month’s few bright spots: the first operating signals from the 500,000 tonne per year Kamoa‑Kakula smelter in the DRC. 

While still in ramp up and not yet included in the Earth-i index, its addition will eventually lift Africa’s active smelting tonnage to around 1.45 million tonnes.

The historic weakening in global smelter activity is intertwined with an unprecedented collapse in treatment and refining charges, or TCRCs, which are the fees miners pay smelters to convert concentrate into refined copper. 

Mine disruptions have tightened concentrate supply forcing smelters, many of which have come online in recent years after aggressive Chinese build out, to compete for feedstock. 

As a result, spot TCRCs have plunged into deeply negative territory, with recent spot market tenders closing near –$45 per tonne and – 4.5¢ per lb. The benchmark annual contract market has followed this collapse. Antofagasta’s 2026 benchmark agreement with a Chinese smelter settled at zero dollars,  the lowest annual TC/RC terms ever recorded.

These levels effectively eliminate smelter processing margins and explain why many facilities outside China are curtailing output. The Chinese industry is less exposed to market forces with many refiners and smelters across the country backed by local governments that can keep operations running even when margins disappear.

Sandvik said on Thursday it is acquiring South Africa’s ThoroughTec Simulation and will integrate it into the parts and services division of the group’s mining business unit.

ThoroughTec develops OEM-agnostic training simulators and offers a training management system, enabling mining customers to strengthen productivity and operator safety, and reduce equipment maintenance costs.

The combination of ThoroughTec’s training simulators and Sandvik’s digital solutions will “enable data-driven, customized operator training programs based on real machine performance insights,” Sandvik said in a statement.

The parties did not disclose the purchase price. The transaction is expected to close during the second quarter of 2026, subject to customary regulatory approvals.

“ThoroughTec is a great addition to Sandvik. Their solutions will strengthen our aftermarket offering and help customers enhance both productivity and safety in their operations through advanced training technologies,” Sandvik CEO Stefan Widing said.

Headquartered in Durban, South Africa, ThoroughTec has more than 200 employees and a broad-based sales and support network. In 2025, it generated revenues of around SEK 170 million, with a strong EBITA margin.

The impact on Sandvik’s EBITA margin will be accretive, the Swedish group said.